On March 24, 2011, Governor Brown signed 13 bills into law that included a law that reduces the budget for our own school district. Because of these cuts, Carlsbad Unified School District has to cut $3.5 million from their budget in the 2011-2012 year alone.

This loss of funds is the cause of the commotion students have been hearing about around campus. Students and parents alike are outraged towards the school district’s use of money. Many programs, along with teachers, are being cut in order to comply with the new, stricter budget restrictions, and even though 24 pink slips have been rescinded, the problem is still prevalent in our district.

“These budget cuts are going to affect our students drastically. The collection of offerings that are needed for students to have a well-rounded experience in high school may be taken away,” said Richard Nielsen-Eckfield, columnist for Voice of San Diego,. “Programs are being cut that help to make students more complete individuals.”

The question most people seem to be asking is this: if our school district is required to cut millions of dollars from our budget, to the point where we cannot even afford paper for our teachers, how have we afforded to build a brand new campus and open up a brand new high school? Students around campus are rallying to stop the budget cuts from affecting our education.

“It’s not only ridiculous, but fiscally irresponsible to open the new school. The fact of the matter is that we cannot afford it,” junior Katie Bradshaw said.

It seems to be a reality that we are going to lose many educators and programs due to the budget cuts going into effect next year.

“Our students need to desperately hang on to the things that make them who they are, whether it be art programs or music programs and so on. We all have vested interest in this. There’s more to being a high school student than just core classes, and we’ve got to protect that,” Nielsen-Eckfield said.

The result of these cuts may be a dramatic reduction in fine arts and specialized courses. The fact of the matter is, solutions are yet to be given, meaning all of our educations will be affected come the 2012-2013 school year.

“The budget cuts will affect us all differently, but will ultimately cause detrimental effects in our education,” sophomore Adam Faringhy said. “I’m unhappy to hear about these budget cuts. Hopefully a solution will show itself soon.”